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C4 photosynthesis involves a series of biochemical and anatomical traits that significantly improve plant productivity under conditions that reduce the efficiency of C3 photosynthesis. We explore how evolution of the three classical biochemical types of C4 photosynthesis (NADP-ME, NAD-ME and PCK types) has affected the functions and properties of mitochondria. Mitochondria in C4 NAD-ME and PCK types play a direct role in decarboxylation of metabolites for C4 photosynthesis. Mitochondria in C4 PCK type also provide ATP for C4 metabolism, although this role for ATP provision is not seen in NAD-ME type. Such involvement has increased mitochondrial abundance/size and associated enzymatic capacity, led to changes in mitochondrial location and ultrastructure, and altered the role of mitochondria in cellular carbon metabolism in the NAD-ME and PCK types. By contrast, these changes in mitochondrial properties are absent in the C4 NADP-ME type and C3 leaves, where mitochondria play no direct role in photosynthesis. From an eco-physiological perspective, rates of leaf respiration in darkness vary considerably among C4 species but does not differ systematically among the three C4 types. This review outlines further mitochondrial research in key areas central to the engineering of the C4 pathway into C3 plants and to the understanding of variation in rates of C4 dark respiration.

In this study, we adopt the coupled fluid–rigid body simulation using the moving computational domain method and the multi–axis sliding mesh method to the takeoff, hovering, and yawing flight of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. The aircraft model has four pairs of coaxial propellers, and the computational domain is divided into three domains to move the aircraft and eight propeller domains to rotate the propellers. As a result, we clarify the behavior and aerodynamic force of the aircraft when the input values are determined by the automatic control. The results in the flow field also show that the downwash spreads in a crisscross pattern on the ground, that the wind reaches different ranges on the ground depending on the flight altitude, and that the coaxial propeller causes a asymmetry in the velocity field during yawing. Consequently, we conclude that this method is effective for the flight simulation of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

Leaf respiration in the dark (R-dark) is often measured at a single time during the day, with hot-acclimation lowering R-dark at a common measuring temperature. However, it is unclear whether the diel cycle influences the extent of thermal acclimation of R-dark, or how temperature and time of day interact to influence respiratory metabolites. To examine these issues, we grew rice under 25 degrees C : 20 degrees C, 30 degrees C : 25 degrees C and 40 degrees C : 35 degrees C day : night cycles, measuring R-dark and changes in metabolites at five time points spanning a single 24-h period. R-dark differed among the treatments and with time of day. However, there was no significant interaction between time and growth temperature, indicating that the diel cycle does not alter thermal acclimation of R-dark. Amino acids were highly responsive to the diel cycle and growth temperature, and many were negatively correlated with carbohydrates and with organic acids of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Organic TCA intermediates were significantly altered by the diel cycle irrespective of growth temperature, which we attributed to light-dependent regulatory control of TCA enzyme activities. Collectively, our study shows that environmental disruption of the balance between respiratory substrate supply and demand is corrected for by shifts in TCA-dependent metabolites.

Our understanding of the regulation of respiration in C

Our understanding of the regulation of respiration in C plants, where mitochondria play different roles in the different types of C photosynthetic pathway, remains limited. We examined how leaf dark respiration rates (R), in the presence and absence of added malate, vary in monocots representing the three classical biochemical types of C photosynthesis (NADP-ME, NAD-ME and PCK) using intact leaves and extracted bundle sheath strands. In particular, we explored to what extent R are associated with mitochondrial number, volume and ultrastructure. We found that the respiratory response of NAD-ME and PCK type bundle sheath strands to added malate was associated with differences in mitochondrial number, volume, and/or ultrastructure, while NADP-ME type bundle sheath strands did not respond to malate addition. In general, mitochondrial traits reflected the contributions mitochondria make to photosynthesis in the three C types. However, despite the obvious differences in mitochondrial traits, no clear correlation was observed between these traits and R. We suggest that R is primarily driven by cellular maintenance demands and not mitochondrial composition per se, in a manner that is somewhat independent of mitochondrial organic acid cycling in the light.

This study proposes a method for modelling the flow interaction of multiple moving objects where the flow field variables are communicated between multiple separate moving computational domains. Instead of using the conventional approach with a single fixed computational domain covering the whole flow field, this method advances the moving computational domain (MCD) method in which the computational domain itself moves in line with the motions of an object inside. The computational domains created around each object move independently, and the flow fields of each domain interact where the flows cross. This eliminates the spatial restriction for simulating multiple moving objects. Firstly, a shock tube test verifies that the overset implementation and grid movement do not adversely affect the results and that there is communication between the grids. A second test case is conducted in which two spheres are crossed, and the forces exerted on one object due to the other’s crossing at a short distance are calculated. The results verify the reliability of this method and show that it is applicable to the flow interaction of multiple moving objects.

C

The flight of a water rocket involves complicated flows such as a gas–liquid two-phase flow in a pressure tank and a jet flow in an ejection hole. It can be applied to various phenomena by developing a method of reproducing and analyzing complicated phenomena. We simulated the flight of a calculation model of a water rocket by computational fluid dynamics. We conducted the simulation to estimate the thrust data of the calculation model and fluid–structure interaction. The simulated flight trajectory qualitatively matched that obtained from a previous experiment. In addition, it was possible to confirm changes in the attitude of the water rocket and vortices generated around it by simulating the pressure distribution on the surface of it and the flow around it. Therefore, it was possible to simulate the flow around a flying water rocket, which cannot be obtained through conventional theoretical calculations and experiments.

We conducted a numerical simulation of the free surface affected by the diving movement of an object such as a submarine. We have already proposed a computation method that combines the moving grid finite volume method and a surface height function method. In this case, the dive movement was expressed only as a traveling motion, not as a deformation. To express the deformation of a body underwater, the unstructured moving grid finite volume method and sliding mesh approach are combined. The calculation method is expected to be suitable for a computation with high versatility. After the scheme was validated, it was put to practical use. The free surface affected by a submarine with a rotating screw moving underwater was computed using the proposed method. Owing to the computation being for a relatively shallow depth, a remarkable deformation of the free surface occurred. In addition, the movement of the submarine body had a more dominant effect than a screw rotation on changing the shape of the free water surface.

International audience; Short-term temperature response curves of leaf dark respiration (R-T) provide insights into a critical process that influences plant net carbon exchange. This includes how respiratory traits acclimate to sustained changes in the environment. Our study analysed 860 high-resolutionR-T(10-70 degrees C range) curves for: (a) 62 evergreen species measured in two contrasting seasons across several field sites/biomes; and (b) 21 species (subset of those sampled in the field) grown in glasshouses at 20 degrees C : 15 degrees C, 25 degrees C : 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C : 25 degrees C, day : night. In the field, across all sites/seasons, variations inR(25)(measured at 25 degrees C) and the leafTwhereRreached its maximum (T-max) were explained by growthT(mean air-Tof 30-d before measurement), solar irradiance and vapour pressure deficit, with growthThaving the strongest influence.R(25)decreased andT(max)increased with rising growthTacross all sites and seasons with the single exception of winter at the cool-temperate rainforest site where irradiance was low. The glasshouse study confirmed thatR(25)andT(max)thermally acclimated. Collectively, the results suggest: (1) thermal acclimation of leafRis common in most biomes; and (2) the highTthreshold of respiration dynamically adjusts upward when plants are challenged with warmer and hotter climates.

Helicopters and tiltrotor aircrafts are known to fall into an unstable state called vortex ring state when they descend rapidly. This paper presents a six degrees of freedom descending flight simulation of a tiltrotor aircraft represented by the V-22 Osprey, considering the interaction between fluid and a rigid body. That is, an aircraft affects the surrounding flow field by rotating the rotors, and flies with the generated force as thrust. Similarly, an orientation of the airframe is controlled by aerodynamic force which is generated by manipulating the shape. This numerical analysis is a complicated moving boundary problem involving motion of an air-frame or rotation of rotors. As a numerical approach, the Moving Computational Domain (MCD) method in combination with the multi-axis sliding mesh approach is adopted. In the MCD method, the whole computational domain moves with objects in the domain. At this time, fluid flow around the objects is generated by the movement of the boundaries. In addition, this method removes computational space restrictions, allowing an aircraft to move freely within the computational space regardless of a size of a computational grid. The multi-axis sliding mesh approach allows rotating bodies to be placed in a computational grid. Using the above approach, the flight simulation at two different descent rates is performed to reveal a behavior of a tiltrotor aircraft and a state of the surrounding flow field.

To compute flows around a body with a rotating or movable part like a tiltrotor aircraft, the multi axes sliding mesh approach has been proposed. This approach is based on the unstructured moving grid finite volume method, which has adopted the space-time unified domain for control volume. Thus, it can accurately express such a moving mesh. However, due to the difficulty of mesh control in viscous flows and the need to maintain the stability of computation, it is restricted to only inviscid flows. In this paper, the multi axes sliding mesh approach was extended to viscous flows to understand detailed flow phenomena around a complicated moving body. The strategies to solve several issues not present in inviscid flow computations are described. To show the validity of the approach in viscous flows, it was applied to the flow field of a sphere in uniform flow. Multiple domains that slide individually were placed around the sphere, and it was confirmed that the sliding mesh did not affect the flow field. The usability of the approach is expected to be applied to practical viscous flow computations.

In the United Kingdom, old infrastructure facilities along train tracks like overpasses should be repaired as soon as possible. In order to design them more optimally, we need to know the flow field around such facilities. In this study, a traveling train and a stationary overpass were reproduced in a computational domain, and the flow field around the train and the overpass was simulated with the MCD method and the Expanded Sliding Mesh approach. In the conventional Sliding Mesh approach, sliding planes must be completely adjacent to other Sliding planes, that is, Sliding planes cannot be adjacent to both other Sliding planes and outer boundaries simultaneously. Then, the Expanded Sliding Mesh approach was proposed. The results given by using the MCD method and the Expanded Sliding Mesh approach were compared with the experimental results given by Baker, and their good qualitative and quantitative agreements were shown in almost cases. Only in the case that the overpass is very close to the train, the effects of boundary layers on laminar flow and turbulence need to be considered for more precise computation.

Determining whether the terrestrial biosphere will be a source or sink of carbon (C) under a future climate of elevated CO2 (eCO2) and warming requires accurate quantification of gross primary production (GPP), the largest flux of C in the global C cycle. We evaluated 6 years (2007–2012) of flux-derived GPP data from the Prairie Heating and CO2 Enrichment (PHACE) experiment, situated in a grassland in Wyoming, USA. The GPP data were used to calibrate a light response model whose basic formulation has been successfully used in a variety of ecosystems. The model was extended by modeling maximum photosynthetic rate (Amax) and light-use efficiency (Q) as functions of soil water, air temperature, vapor pressure deficit, vegetation greenness, and nitrogen at current and antecedent (past) timescales. The model fits the observed GPP well (R2 = 0.79), which was confirmed by other model performance checks that compared different variants of the model (e.g. with and without antecedent effects). Stimulation of cumulative 6-year GPP by warming (29%, P = 0.02) and eCO2 (26%, P = 0.07) was primarily driven by enhanced C uptake during spring (129%, P = 0.001) and fall (124%, P = 0.001), respectively, which was consistent across years. Antecedent air temperature (Tairant) and vapor pressure deficit (VPDant) effects on Amax (over the past 3–4 days and 1–3 days, respectively) were the most significant predictors of temporal variability in GPP among most treatments. The importance of VPDant suggests that atmospheric drought is important for predicting GPP under current and future climate; we highlight the need for experimental studies to identify the mechanisms underlying such antecedent effects. Finally, posterior estimates of cumulative GPP under control and eCO2 treatments were tested as a benchmark against 12 terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs). The narrow uncertainties of these data-driven GPP estimates suggest that they could be useful semi-independent data streams for validating TBMs.

We used a widely distributed tree Eucalyptus camaldulensis subsp. camaldulensis to partition intraspecific variation in leaf functional traits to genotypic variation and phenotypic plasticity. We examined if genotypic variation is related to the climate of genotype provenance and whether phenotypic plasticity maintains performance in a changing environment. Ten genotypes from different climates were grown in a common garden under watering treatments reproducing the wettest and driest edges of the subspecies' distribution. We measured functional traits reflecting leaf metabolism and associated with growth (respiration rate, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, and leaf mass per area) and performance proxies (aboveground biomass and growth rate) each season over a year. Genotypic variation contributed substantially to the variation in aboveground biomass but much less in growth rate and leaf traits. Phenotypic plasticity was a large source of the variation in leaf traits and performance proxies and was greater among sampling dates than between watering treatments. The variation in leaf traits was weakly correlated to performance proxies, and both were unrelated to the climate of genotype provenance. Intraspecific variation in leaf traits arises similarly among genotypes in response to seasonal environmental variation, instead of long-term water availability or climate of genotype provenance.

Increasing atmospheric CO2 stimulates photosynthesis which can increase net primary production (NPP), but at longer timescales may not necessarily increase plant biomass. Here we analyse the four decade-long CO2-enrichment experiments in woody ecosystems that measured total NPP and biomass. CO2 enrichment increased biomass increment by 1.05 ± 0.26 kg C m−2 over a full decade, a 29.1 ± 11.7% stimulation of biomass gain in these early-secondary-succession temperate ecosystems. This response is predictable by combining the CO2 response of NPP (0.16 ± 0.03 kg C m−2 y−1) and the CO2-independent, linear slope between biomass increment and cumulative NPP (0.55 ± 0.17). An ensemble of terrestrial ecosystem models fail to predict both terms correctly. Allocation to wood was a driver of across-site, and across-model, response variability and together with CO2-independence of biomass retention highlights the value of understanding drivers of wood allocation under ambient conditions to correctly interpret and predict CO2 responses., It is unclear whether CO2-stimulation of photosynthesis can propagate through slower ecosystem processes and lead to long-term increases in terrestrial carbon. Here the authors show that CO2-stimulation of photosynthesis leads to a 30% increase in forest regrowth over a decade of CO2 enrichment.

Six degrees of freedom coupled simulation is presented for a tilt-rotor plane represented by V-22 Osprey. The Moving Computational Domain (MCD) method is used to compute a flow field around aircraft and the movement of the body with high accuracy. This method enables to move a plane through space without restriction of computational ranges. Therefore it is different from computation of such the flows by using conventional methods that calculate a flow field around a static body placing it in a uniform flow like a wind tunnel. To calculate with high accuracy, no simplification for simulating propeller was used. Fluid flows are created only by moving boundaries of an object. A tilt-rotor plane has a hovering function like a helicopter by turning axes of rotor toward the sky during takeoff or landing. On the other hand in flight, it behaves as a reciprocating aircraft by turning axes of rotor forward. To perform such two flight modes in the simulation, multi-axis sliding mesh approach was proposed which is a computational technique to enable us to deal with multiple axes of different direction. Moreover, using in combination with the MCD method, the approach has been able to be applied to the simulation which has more complicated motions of boundaries.

This paper presents six degrees of freedom flight simulation with mode conversion between airplane mode and helicopter mode as an application for realizing Digital Flight of the tiltrotor aircraft. The tiltrotor aircraft has the characteristics of both helicopters and propeller planes with changing the flight mode by tilting the engine nacelles. However, much less work with continuously changing these modes has been done so far. In this paper, the main components such as rotors, engine nacelles, fixed wings and a fuselage are considered. In order to perform large deformations of mesh geometry such as the rotation of the rotor and nacelle as well as the change of the position and attitude of the aircraft, the computational domain is decomposed into multiple domains corresponding to each component. Independently moving these domains makes possible to perform the characteristic behavior of a tiltrotor aircraft. To deal with rotations of multiple decomposed domains, the multi-axis sliding mesh approach is applied. As the solver for simulating unsteady flow driven by complicated moving boundaries, the unstructured Moving-Grid Finite-Volume method is adopted. Based on this solver, the Moving Computational Domain method enables the aircraft to fly in any size of region without restriction of mesh size. The airframe is treated as a rigid body, and the coupled simulations considering interaction with surrounding fluid of the aircraft are demonstrated. The result shows complicated fluid phenomena around the tiltrotor aircraft that occur when it flies with mode change.

For more accurate projections of both the global carbon (C) cycle and the changing climate, a critical current need is to improve the representation of tropical forests in Earth system models. Tropical forests exchange more C, energy, and water with the atmosphere than any other class of land ecosystems. Further, tropical-forest C cycling is likely responding to the rapid global warming, intensifying water stress, and increasing atmospheric CO2 levels. Projections of the future C balance of the tropics vary widely among global models. A current effort of the modeling community, the ILAMB (International Land Model Benchmarking) project, is to compile robust observations that can be used to improve the accuracy and realism of the land models for all major biomes. Our goal with this paper is to identify field observations of tropical-forest ecosystem C stocks and fluxes, and of their long-term trends and climatic and CO2 sensitivities, that can serve this effort. We propose criteria for reference-level field data from this biome and present a set of documented examples from old-growth lowland tropical forests. We offer these as a starting point towards the goal of a regularly updated consensus set of benchmark field observations of C cycling in tropical forests.

Contents Summary 670 I. Introduction 671 II. Principle 1 - Plant respiration performs three distinct functions 673 III. Principle 2 - Metabolic pathway flexibility underlies plant respiratory performance 676 IV. Principle 3 - Supply and demand interact over time to set plant respiration rate 677 V. Principle 4 - Plant respiratory acclimation involves adjustments in enzyme capacities 679 VI. Principle 5 - Respiration is a complex trait that helps to define, and is impacted by, plant lifestyle strategies 680 VII. Future directions 680 Acknowledgements 682 References 682 SUMMARY: Respiration is a core biological process that has important implications for the biochemistry, physiology, and ecology of plants. The study of plant respiration is thus conducted from several different perspectives by a range of scientific disciplines with dissimilar objectives, such as metabolic engineering, crop breeding, and climate-change modelling. One aspect in common among the different objectives is a need to understand and quantify the variation in respiration across scales of biological organization. The central tenet of this review is that different perspectives on respiration can complement each other when connected. To better accommodate interdisciplinary thinking, we identify distinct mechanisms which encompass the variation in respiratory rates and functions across biological scales. The relevance of these mechanisms towards variation in plant respiration are explained in the context of five core principles: (1) respiration performs three distinct functions; (2) metabolic pathway flexibility underlies respiratory performance; (3) supply and demand interact over time to set respiration rates; (4) acclimation involves adjustments in enzyme capacities; and (5) respiration is a complex trait that helps to define, and is impacted by, plant lifestyle strategies. We argue that each perspective on respiration rests on these principles to varying degrees and that broader appreciation of how respiratory variation occurs can unite research across scales.

This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) UV-B Monitoring and Research Program, Colorado State University, under USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Grant 2016-34263-25763. S. Asao was also supported by Australian Research Council Grant CE140100008. AmeriFlux data used were supported in part by the Office of Science (BER), U.S. Department of Energy, Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER63638. W.J. Parton was also supported by USDA cooperative agreements (58-5402-4-001, 59-1902-4-00), the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) project (2015-67003-23456), and University of Illionois Biofuel project (090634-16921).

When plants establish in novel environments, they can modify soil microbial community structure and functional properties in ways that enhance their own success. Although soil microbial communities are influenced by abiotic environmental variability, rhizosphere microbial communities may also be affected by plant activities such as nutrient uptake during the growing season. We predicted that during the growing season, plant N uptake would explain much of the variation in rhizosphere microbial community assembly and functional traits. We grew the invasive C3 grass Bromus tectorum and three commonly co-occurring native C3 grasses in a controlled greenhouse environment, and examined rhizosphere bacterial community structural and functional characteristics at three different plant growth stages. We found that soil N availability and plant tissue N levels strongly correlated with shifts in rhizosphere bacterial community structure. It also appeared that the rapid drawdown of soil nutrients in the rhizosphere during the plant growing season triggered a selection event whereby only those microbes able to tolerate the changing nutrient conditions were able to persist. Plant N uptake rates inversely corresponded to microbial biomass N levels during periods of peak plant growth. Mechanisms which enable plants to influence rhizosphere bacterial community structure and function are likely to affect their competitive ability and fitness. Our study suggests that plants can alter their rhizosphere microbiomes through influencing nutrient availability. The ways in which plants establish their rhizosphere bacterial communities may now be viewed as a selection trait related to intrinsic plant species nutrient demands.